Injuries caused by needles and other sharp medical devices and the related risk of potentially fatal disease transmission remain a major threat to the health and safety of health care workers around the world. In addition, the distress, sickness and absenteeism resulting from sharps injuries constitute a considerable strain on the already limited human resources in the medical profession.
The majority of sharps injuries are suffered by nurses and occur in patient rooms and the operating theatre, but doctors, dentists and' other medical staff are also victims. Ancillary staff such as cleaners and laundry staff and other downstream workers, are also at risk. Additionally, medical devices incorporating needles are frequently used for self-treatment outside of the conventional health care setting and this can create additional dangers for the general public.
The term “needle stick” injury has come to be the term used to describe inadvertent penetration of the skin by a previously used, contaminated needle or other percutaneous device. A combination of training, safer working practices and the use of medical devices incorporating needle stick protection technology can prevent many of these potentially fatal injuries.
The U.S. Congress took action in response to growing concerns over blood borne pathogen exposures from sharps injuries and in response to recent technological developments that increased employee protection. On Nov. 6, 2000, the “Needle Stick Safety and Prevention Act” was signed into law, requiring that all health care facilities in the U.S. evaluate, purchase and provide medical devices incorporating needle protection for their staff. Health care employers in the U.S. are also now required to maintain a sharps injury log and involve non-managerial potentially exposed health care workers in the evaluation and implementation of work practice controls and devices incorporating needle protection.
Thus, safe disposal of sharp medical instruments, such as scalpel blades and syringe needles has become an important issue, addressed at the highest level of the U.S. government, due to the possible transmission of disease by accidental skin-penetrating contact during disposal of sharp medical instruments.
There are several scenarios that describe the accidental needle stick injury: First, a handler may be stuck by a syringe needle while attempting to re-cap the needle after it has been used. Second, a handler may be stuck by a syringe needle while transporting it to a proper “Sharps Container.” Third, a handler or other individuals may be stuck when contacting a syringe and needle that has been left unprotected and unattended. Fourth, individuals that transport medical waste may be stuck by unprotected, uncapped or improperly stored syringes and needles.
There are specific guidelines generally imposed to define proper disposal methods. However, the environment of a medical procedure, especially an emergency procedure, may often preclude close adherence to specific guidelines or protocol.
In general, it is considered “unsafe” to re-cap a syringe needle due to the extreme possibility that the handler will be stuck by the needle while re-capping. Various attempts to provide automatic shielding devices have met with only limited success or acceptance.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,083,098 to Schaffer and titled STORAGE AND DISPENSING SYSTEM FOR NEEDLE SHIELDS, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety, discloses a delivery mechanism of supplying needle covers to be used to cover or shield the sharp and contaminated ends of used syringe-needles that automatically advance into a preferred position as each individual needle-shielding member is engaged and subsequently removed from the delivery mechanism. The delivery mechanism comprises a storage base having a delivery groove; a spring within the delivery groove; a plurality of needle-shields stored within the groove and held in sequential compression by the spring; and a base-cap sized and configured to hold the spring and the plurality of needle-shields within the groove, the cap having an opening for releasing the needle-shields individually therefrom. A syringe needle can be inserted into a needle-shield that is advanced into position by the continuous load of a coiled spring within a spiral pathway. The needle-shield is withdrawn when the needle is removed, at which point the needle-shields within the groove advance under the influence of the constant force spring.